father would be incredibly proud.”
“After your husband’s sacrifice, we consider it our pleasure.” He stepped forward to shake their hands but focused his attention on Andy. “Welcome to the Teton Valley Dude Ranch, son.” After a cough he asked, “Have you ever been to Wyoming?”
“No.” The peeved sound that came out of Andy was totally mortifying to her.
Kit glanced at their host. “I’m afraid he just woke up from a sound sleep.”
“I understand. Long transatlantic flights do the same thing to me.” He’d said it with urbane sophistication, acting as if nothing was wrong, but she knew he knew there was plenty wrong with her son. “Let’s gather your luggage.”
They walked over to the carousel. “We have three cases. They’re the navy ones with the red-and-white trim.”
He reached for them, and they followed him outside past the other passengers to a black, four-door Jeep. He stowed the suitcases in the rear with what looked like effortless ease. To her consternation, the play of hard muscle across his back and shoulders drew her attention without her volition.
Andy just stood there without helping, causing Kit more embarrassment. Their host spoke to him. “Do you prefer the front or backseat?”
“Back,” he mumbled.
“I’ll sit with you, honey.” Kit opened the rear door and climbed in before Mr. Livingston had time to help. Andy got in next to her and pulled the door shut. Their host slid his powerful body behind the wheel of the Jeep, coughing again before they took off.
She glanced out her window so she wouldn’t be tempted to stare at the way his black hair curled in tendrils against the bronzed skin of his neck. Since seeing him walk toward her in the terminal, she’d felt breathless, assuming it was because of the six thousand feet or more altitude after coming from sea level. But upon closer examination, she realized it was the stunning-looking male driving the Jeep who’d caused her lungs to constrict.
The farther away they got from the airport, the freer she felt, despite the tension emanating from both her son and the enigmatic male in front.
Maybe not enigmatic. That wasn’t the word she was looking for. Still, something wasn’t right. The cowboy’s attitude wasn’t as warm as the tone of his partner’s letter that had touched her heart. She would have to wait until tonight after Andy had fallen asleep before she’d be able to apologize to their host about her son.
Perhaps coming here for the first week of September rather than anytime in August had put them out, though they hadn’t seemed to mind when she’d asked if she could change the dates. After the generosity of these marines, changing the dates to please her in-laws had embarrassed her terribly. When she got the opportunity, she would explain what had happened.
Still troubled by her thoughts, she saw a jet climb into one of the bluest skies she’d ever seen. With the Grand Teton in the background, the sight was magnificent beyond words. She watched until the plane was a mere speck before she sighed with relief. They were really here, delivered to the small town of seven thousand people. It wasn’t just a dream.
She’d been living for this moment. From now on their future plans rested solely with her.
Suddenly she felt their host’s piercing glance on her through the rearview mirror. She could almost believe he was reading her mind. “If you’re hungry, say the word and we can stop for a bite to eat in Jackson. Otherwise dinner is served from five to eight in the dining room of the main ranch house.”
Anyone watching or listening would think he was being perfectly polite. He was, but behind his benign suggestion she still sensed he had reservations about her.
“I don’t want to eat,” Andy muttered to her before he turned and hunched against the door.
Kit didn’t know if their host had heard him or not. Her son had completely forgotten his manners. “Thank you for asking, but we had a meal before we landed so we’re fine until later.”
“You don’t even want something to drink?”
“No, thank you.”
He turned onto the main highway. “We’ll be at the ranch in fifteen minutes. There’ll be drinks and snacks in your cabin.”
“That sounds wonderful.” In order to shut his compelling image from her vision, she closed her eyes, but another cough from him reminded her he was still there. He must be getting over a cold.
The first stage in her plan had been accomplished. She and Andy were far away from Maine and her in-laws. Unfortunately she hadn’t expected a complication like Mr. Livingston. Despite the fact that he seemed to have reservations about her, she’d already become aware of him as a man, a disturbing one. This awareness hadn’t happened to her since before her marriage to Winn. She didn’t like it.
Chemistry had been responsible for their ill-advised union. Of course she could never regret Andy, who was the joy of her existence, but she was ten years older now and knew better than to get carried away a second time.
Kit’s one purpose in life was to make a new life for her and Andy. Beyond that she couldn’t think.
Chapter Two
Ross hadn’t known what to expect while he’d been waiting for the Wentworths inside the terminal. He’d spotted a nice-looking dark blond boy of about nine or ten, dressed in shorts and a collared shirt, emerge from the doors. When Ross saw the mother directly behind him with her dark hair styled in tousled waves, he let out a low whistle.
She might be close to thirty at this point, but he did have to admit that in her recent widowhood, she could have passed as a top model for a fashion magazine. He liked her pleated white pants and the chic, short-sleeved khaki blouse that tucked in at the waist. She looked polished and sophisticated. Her sex appeal stood out a mile, catching the eye of most of the males in her sight, including his.
Damn if Charles Wentworth’s daughter-in-law wasn’t a knockout. Because of his own privileged background, he had a tendency to cast a jaded eye on women who thrived in a culture he’d found too shallow to tolerate.
The affluent society he’d grown up in was what had finally caused Ross to join the marines. A complete break from the life plan his father had mapped out for him was his only way out. He’d needed to get out, or his life wouldn’t have been worth living. But his desire for a lifetime career in the military had come to an early end when he’d been discharged after six years of service because of his chronic cough.
Except to visit his parents after being released from Walter Reed Hospital in March, plus the monthly phone call home, he hadn’t been near that world until today. By some strange quirk in the universe, it had fallen to him to be the personal host of this woman and her son.
Ross saw himself in Andy at that age and was haunted by it. The boy had grown up in the same kind of environment as Ross. Better than anyone else, he recognized a kid who could be corrupted by that kind of money and lifestyle. A child who was born to walk one path with no room for deviation.
But before he allowed past bitterness to overwhelm him, Ross needed to remember this mother and son had lost their husband and father. They’d come to the ranch at the guys’ invitation and were his responsibility for the next week. Death came to every class of society, and they were still dealing with their grief.
Ross knew the usual tactics to win over a child the way Carson and Buck had done wouldn’t work with Andy. It had been ingrained in this boy from infancy that he was superior to everyone else.
He came from an establishment fueled by money and power beyond most people’s ability to imagine. Already he could see in the boy’s eyes what an insufferable week he would have to spend in this back-of-beyond place. Ross would have to rely on his gut instinct to make any headway.
Once he turned onto the road leading into the ranch, he pointed out the ranch managers’